[Nothing else remained within the ancient battlefield ruins.]
[That ancient Gate was the only intact remnant; everything else had crumbled to dust over the long ages.]
[You asked Chen Qingyan whether he knew anything about the "half-immortal's legacy." He shook his head.]
[This was within your expectations.]
[—Had he known this place's origins, he would not have ventured into danger so readily in the [previous simulations].]
[Because of the warning, "Seek no further," and because you already knew the true nature of the secret realm's other three factions—the Northern Burial Dao, the Southern Blazing Sun, and the Western Bodhisattva—you strongly urged Chen Qingyan to stop here.]
[He pondered for a moment, then nodded in agreement.]
[When the secret realm's ten-day opening period ended, you withdrew with the other cultivators.]
[Three days later, inside the secret realm.]
[You sat cross-legged, sinking your spiritual sense into your sea of consciousness and touching that golden rune—[Myriad Selves].]
[Your consciousness followed the faint [karmic thread] established earlier within the secret realm, crossing space and locking onto the outskirts of the ancient battlefield ruins in the eastern region of the [Ten Thousand Beasts Secret Realm].]
[This place was relatively safe, and after the strange incident at the ancient Gate, no cultivators would likely dare approach for a while.]
[Projection deployed.]
[Ripples spread through the void, and a second "other self" stepped out of nothingness.]
[Its appearance, aura, and cultivation—eighteenth-level qi refining limit-breaking—all matched your original body.]
[Since it carried no talents, its essence was completely identical to your current essence.]
[You switched to the "other self's" perspective.]
[The secret realm had already closed. The outer region lay deathly still, its thin spiritual energy laced with faint traces of blood and decay.]
[You controlled your "other self" as it searched within the safe area, trying